I have not seen any Bronco track so I can't make a fair comparison to AFV Club track. I am looking for the one with the most accurate look when assembled. Is there a heads up about either one?

Thanks.

AFV Club is far superior in terms of ease of assembly and looks.

BUT (huge capital letters)

every track link needs filling and sanding as there are two sinkmarks on every link upper surface.

You can carefully minimise the ammount of links to fill and sand by orking only on the links that will be visible.

The Bronco track is fully workable and tends to be more sturdy.

The AFV Club plastic does not like strong paint solvents and might brake up during painting or weathering.

Thanks! I am looking for accuracy so it's AFV and some filling and sanding.

I've used AFV club's T97E2 track on a build I did of Tamiya's M48 several years ago. I didn't find any issues with it-- there were a few minor sink holes that needed slight filling, that's about it. I used Tamiya extra thin cement, and they went together just fine. I also used my regular mix of Testor's enamel track brown for the shoes, with flat black and burnt umber mixed with lacquer thinner for the pads, and had no problems. The model is still on display at Skyway models 10 years later with no issues. I have no knowledge of the Bronco track, but I'd like to give it a shot someday to compare-- it looks good in photos. Wonder why Bronco is producing it, since they have no accompanying model to put it on....hmmm....?
VR, Russ

I used AFV track when I did my M60A1 and was happy with the results. I like Russ have never built any Bronco track so I have nothing to compare the AFV track to. Friule track is also available but I don't know if they are anymore accurate.

Greg,
I havent seen the Bronco tracks yet.

But I have used the AFV Club and the Friul tracks on my M60A3TTS build.

The AFV Club tracks need a lot of sanding and filling thus they look nicer than the friul tracks.

BUT ....

I had a major disaster with AFV Club tracks during weathering stage. Enamel washes completeley destroyed the end connectors and I had to bin the tracks. Finally I switched to Friul to finish my model.

In this build blog you can see all of the disaster ;-)

Baubericht

Sorry, only in german ...

Cheers
Walter

Walter, that was a nice job you did with that kit.
Thanks for the heads up. I may have to do the Fruiles.
I will be building the M67 in Vietnam. There will be a good bit of weathering on the tracks with the red dirt and mud.

Greg,
Before you go with the Fruils, which are quite expensive by the way-- take a close look at Walter's track-- it's a problem I've experienced with Fruils several times-- the sag is exaggerated because of the weight of the track. Live action track-- especially on the M-60 series, does not sag that way, unless the track is dead in spots. There is also a sag below the idler and drive sprocket, and those areas almost never sag unless something is wrong, or the track is moving in a turn. As I said, I never had the problem Walter shows in his article with the AFV club track, I suspect there was something in the thinner treatment he used which attacked the plastic. i glued the end connectors only in my track and they worked fine. Don't get me wrong-- I like Fruil tracks, but only for subjects where sag is required. I have a Tamiya Crocodile sitting on my shelf right now with Fruil tracks-- but I get frustrated seeing the track sag away from the idler and drive sprockets over time where they are supposed to be tight.
VR, Russ

I agree Russ, Walter might have been able to remove a track block to eliminate the sag or maybe be he couldn't I don't know. In real life when you run your end connectors with a string to check track tension you only get about a quarter inch of sag between the support rollers. I used the AFV Club track on my M60A1 without any issues but I did not use any thinners or solvents in the weathering. I agree the weight of the Fruiels are very helpful sometimes, live track not being one of them.

Greg, yep, sounds like you and I have the same experience with the M60A1. Funny thing about live action track-- when you throw a chunk of it in a pile, it actually curls in reverse. I built a model of a USMC M48 a few years ago for a competition and got dinged for attaching the extra track along the turret grab handles with an outward bend!! I tried to explain to the judge it's what really happened, but he couldn't grasp the idea of "live action track"-- and just pointed to the various Panzer IVs and T-34s on the table (in his defense, he wasn't an armor judge and was pressed into service from aircraft subjects).
VR. Russ

I partially solved the problem with the judges by providing photo's of the vehicle I was modeling. They could see how close to real I was. When things didn't look like they immagined it should, the photos clarified it issue. I know not all contests allow this but the ones I scored best did.

Hi Greg

Before going charging off and buying a set, see if you can find a review where they advise if the track set fits your particular kit. In my experience, sometimes a type of track does not fit a sprocket or needs work for guide horns to fit between road wheels.

Fruils are inaccurate as they are all in one, so they do not have the correct sit of the connectors around curves. AFV Club basic assembly is fast, but clean up takes ages to fill and sand. As to the Bronco set, more parts = more clean up, but I have built them and like them more than AFV club's. You just need a bit of care not to break the skeletal frames. Here is a review by Darren Baker:

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/review/9321


Good luck with whichever you choose

Correct Greg, I couldn`t close the track when removin one track block.
Also the mentioned sag of friuls was a problem. I solved it gluing the trackpands on the underside of the fenders ;-)

cheers
Walter

I had the same disaster. Oil wash reacted with the paint on some AFV Club M60 tracks. Once dry, they totally locked up with many split end connectors . Since then, I only use water based craft paints to wash/weather tracks. I like the result better too.